IRAN: A father waits for a daughter convicted of espionage

Reza Saberi is not accustomed to espionage and the intricacies of international politics. But the case of his daughter, Roxana, an Iranian American journalist convicted of spying for the U.S., has brought him from his home in North Dakota to an apartment on the outskirts of Tehran.

Roxana has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Washington and international human-rights groups have called for her release, saying the accusations against her were fabricated and that her one-day trial last week was a sham. Reza Saberi shuttles from the lawyer’s office to Evin Prison, where Roxana awaits her appeal while Washington and Tehran are contemplating their next moves.

The case has complicated the Obama administration’s attempts to improve relations with the Islamic government, most notably over Tehran’s nuclear program. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has urged prosecutors to ensure Saberi receives “justice and fairness” in her appeal, an indication that Iran may be seeking to resolve the case before it jeopardizes diplomatic efforts with Washington.

Today, Iran’s highest judge, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, ordered the Tehran court to consider the “appeals stage in a careful, quick and fair way,” according to the official IRNA news agency.

Reza Saberi, a native of Iran, visited his 31-year-old daughter this morning. He sat down later for an interview with The Times:

What is Roxana's emotional and psychological state? You had mentioned earlier that she had talked about a hunger strike.
 
"Yes, she has been thinking about that. However, we have persuaded her so far not to do so. She is physically pretty frail and it would be hard for her to endure a hunger strike. But I do not know even today if it was on her mind or not. Maybe she is still contemplating it."

How would you describe your days since arriving in Tehran? What's it been like waiting without much information?

"We are very much concerned about our daughter. But ... we are happy that we have a place to stay and we are just living day by day waiting for what will come next."

Did she ever mention how dangerous it might by reporting from Iran?

"She did not mention it. We mention it. But she still took the risk. She knew, but she took the risk."
 
The Iranian authorities said Roxana confessed to spying. Did she confess? You had said over the weekend that she was tricked into a confession?
 
"At this time, I would like to wait on the answer to that. Because this is something that her lawyer is trying to find out. As far as we are concerned, we think our daughter is innocent. What is in the file, we do not know the details."

When did you first learn of Roxana's arrest and what were you told?

"The first time it was Feb. 10, when she called. It was a very short conversation and she had told us they had detained her because she bought a bottle of wine. That was the first time. Ten days after that, we lost contact with her. We were all wondering where she was. The second time she called, she said that she was still being detained. After that, we had to wait until the lawyer visited our daughter."

She's a U.S. citizen. Has Washington done enough to help her?
 
"Their hands are tied because the U.S. has no embassy here and, of course, if they had an embassy it would not have happened. So they are trying hard to work through other embassies, especially through the Swiss embassy, which is acting as an intermediary. But the U.S.’ hands are tied."

What's Roxana like? She holds master's degrees and was Miss North Dakota in 1997. What drives her? What are her ambitions? Why did she become a journalist?
 
"She likes journalism. She likes to be with people. ... She is an achiever. She likes to study and also to learn about different cultures and nations."

Is there a telling anecdote that describes Roxana?
 
"She is curious to know about any place she lives. She has an inquisitive mind and  wants to find out the truth and the facts in the things she studies. She has studied many books. She is an expert of Middle East, judging from the number of books she has studied. Since childhood, she wanted to accomplish. She has the ambition to become the first and getting ahead."

-- Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran and Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Reza Saberi with a photo of his daughter. Credit: Associated Press

Photo: Roxana Saberi. Credit: AFP

Comments

[Joe]

When US congress setup active budget to change Iranian regime for years now, naturally all foreigners visiting Iran are considered to be suspects unless proven otherwise, that' how national security apparatus operates, good words by Obama are fine, but behavior modifications cuts both way, crying wolf anyone!

[Javad]

It's a wishful thinking to count on oil prices to change any government, never happened before and won't happens in future, if Iran can withstand 8 years of brutal war while being sanctioned militarily and economically by majority of the world powers with $10 a barrel oil prices in 1980's, certainly she can live with today oil prices comfortably, and there are no serious substitute for oil and gas for foreseeable future, sanctions only bring patriotic attitude out of Iranians and registers her enemies on the target acquisition radar of Iranian psyche.

[Pom Pom Girl]

Iranian Regime Change
With Oil falling well below $50 a barrel a number of our enemies will be hard pressed to meet the needs of their people and to stoke their nationalistic or foreign policy agendas. Iran for one will struggle to feed its people, pay for gasoline imports, push its nuclear agenda, supply or train terrorists, fund Madrossa schools throughout the region or saber rattle to push the price of oil upwards
At this historic moment, the US Congress could encourage regime change in Iran without firing a shot. The worldwide economic slump will eventually end but by approving the building of 50 nuclear power plants in the next 20 years in the United States and by clearly refusing to reinstate the drilling ban off of the US coast, Congress we can do all that we can to keep the cost of Oil down and the pressure up on these threat to World security.
That change in the supply and demand curve for oil will, in the short and long term, lower the price of oil. Whether or not we actually drill or build the plants in the next few years, does not matter in terms of the perception in the futures market for oil, in terms of supply potential.
Perhaps then Iran won't pull this sort of spy crap.